Barge which can be stacked on barge-carrying ships

ABSTRACT

Barge functioning as large container and capable of navigating waterways as a lighter. The framework of the barge comprises two upper longitudinal girders and two lower longitudinal girders, both the upper and lower girders consisting of drawn sections made of light alloy and extending the whole length of the barge. When stacked, the lower longitudinal girders of one barge are supported and stacked along the whole length of the barge on the upper longitudinal girders of the subjacent barge.

United States Patent 11 1 Le Grand et al. Sept. 9, 1975 [5 BARGE WHICH CAN BE STACKED ON 3,4OL993 9/l968 Fenkel 206/509 BARGE CARRYING SHIPS 3,448,71 l 6/l969 Mulholland et al... l l4/26 3,47l,876 lO/l969 Horiuchi et al....... 9/6 [75] Inv n r Robert r ri Christian 3.481.502 l2/l969 Slayman 206/511 Frville, Sevran; Francois Colas, flourglzbkeiney France FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 7 9 l [73] Assignee: Cegedur Societe de Transformation 56 [0/1957 my 5 dlAl ,P',F

e umlmum ans rance Primary Examiner-Trygve M. Bllx Filed: June 17, 1 74 Assistant Examiner-Gregory W. OConnor [21] Appl. N01: 479,767

[57] ABSTRACT [30] Forei n Ap lication Priorit Data Barge functionin as large container and capable of g P y 8 June 19, 1973 France 73.22185 navigating Wamrways as a g The framewflrk the barge comprises two upper longitudinal girders 52 us. c1. 114/26; 114/435; 206/509 and two lower longitudinal girders both the upper and [Si] Int. Cl." B63B 35/28 lower girders consisting of draw" Sections made of [53] pick] f Search 114/26, 435, 3 77 A, light alloy and extending the whole length of the l l4/72; 206/503, 51 l, 509; 221/].5 barge. When stacked, the lower longitudinal girders of one barge are supported and stacked along the whole [56] References Cited length of the barge on the upper longitudinal girders UNITED STATES PATENTS of Subiace 2339.650 1/!944 Rauch ll4/26 4 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTED SEP 9 5 SHEET 2 [If 4 FIG. 5

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r I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I L I BARGE WHICH CAN BE STACKED ON BARGE-CARRYING SHIPS This invention relates to barges and more particularly to barges which can be stacked for transport on bargecarrying ships.

The barges function on the ship as cellular shipholds and may be likened to large floating containers. When lowered into the water, these containers become ligh ters which can be propelled to their unloading site. The barges can thus be unloaded in the harbor installations which could not be reached by the barge-carrying ship itself.

In order to make the best possible use of the space available in the ship's hold, the barges are stacked on one another, for example in stacks of six.

The construction of such barges gives rise to numerous problems since they must be able to be handled (for loading and unloading) and stacked on the ship for transport and, at the same time, they must be able to fulfil their function of floating devices when fully loaded, with as much safety and reliability as necessary. These problems are even more difficult in the case of large barges which may attain a length of about 20 m, a width of about 9 m and a height of about 4 m and can therefore carry a useful load of about 180 to 360 tons per barge, depending on the nature of the load.

There is obviously the greatest interest in reducing the weight of the empty barges to the minimum possible and simplifying their construction to make them more economical while, at the same time, conforming to the requirements of strength mentioned above and in particular their resistance when stacked. In the case mentioned above of six barges stacked on top of one another, the lowest barge may have to support a weight of about 2000 tons.

The present invention enables these various prob lems to be resolved more satisfactorily than has previously been possible with barges constructed by the usual methods for floating gear.

The present invention has as its object a barge which is capable of being stacked, in which the framework comprises two upper longitudinal girders and two lower longitudinal girders each of which consists of a large drawn section substantially as long as the barge itself, the section of the upper longitudinal girder and that of the lower girder each having hollow parts and substantially corresponding projecting parts so that the lower girders of one barge can rest on and be fitted into the corresponding upper girders of a second barge over their whole length, when the first barge is stacked on the second barge.

In a barge according to the invention, the upper and lower longitudinal girders are joined together by lshaped drawn sections. constituting the transverse frames of the barge, which are connected to each other by longitudinally extending L-shaped sections. The

It will be obvious from what has been said above that the construction of the barge, according to the invention, requires only three different models of sections, which is advantageous from an economical point of 5 view. Moreover, since the upper and lower longitudinal girders extend substantially over the entire length of the barge and since parts of the section of the lower girders and that of the upper girders are substantially complementary to each other, the load produced by one or more stacked barges on the barge underneath can be distributed uniformly and no undue local stresses are set up.

These substantially complementary sections also insure that the barges will be firmly interlocked when they are stacked.

The invention will be more clearly understood with the aid of the following description given with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate an embodiment of the invention by way of non-limiting exampie.

transverse half on a larger scale showing certain details shell of the barge consists of a double wall composed of an external wall and an internal wall which between them enclose a sealed buoyancy space and which consist of large metal sheets fixed to the external and inter nal wings of the l-shaped sections as well as to the upper and lower longitudinal girders.

All the drawn sections as well as the metal sheets of the walls are preferably made ofa light alloy and all the parts of the barge are fitted together by welding.

of the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a partial view in longitudinal section showing one end of the barge;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of an upper longitudinal girder consisting of a drawn section of great length; and

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a lower longitudinal girder consisting of a drawn section of great length.

The barge shown schematically in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 essentially comprises for its framework two upper longitudinal girders 2, 2' and two lower longitudinal girders 4, 4' joined to each other by l-shaped sections 6, 6', 6" forming transverse frames or cradles. Other I- shaped sections 7, 7', 7" arranged longitudinally are shown in FIG. 5.

The internal walls 8, 8', external walls 10, I0 and double base l2, l4 consist of large metal sheets welded to the longitudinal girders and I-shaped sections. Lifting apertures 16, I8, I6, 18' are provided on each upper longitudinal girder for handling the barge (load ing, unloading and lowering into the water).

A barge which has the dimensions indicated in the preamble to this desctiption may, for example, hold nine containers C C C with a volume of 36 in and weight of 20 tons each or an unpacked load of about 360 tons. In the latter case, the draft of a barge about 4 m in height would be about 2.25 m.

It will be clear from what has been said above that the construction of the framework of the barge, according to the invention, requires only three types of drawn sections of great length, namely the upper longitudinal girder, lower longitudinal girder and l-shaped section, the latter essentially constituting the framework of the barge, These various sections are preferably made of a light alloy as are also the sheets forming the external and internal walls of the barge. Furthermore, the various elements of the structure and walls of the barge are preferably assembled by welding so that construction must be carried out in building yards equipped for welding long pieces under good conditions.

The preferred sectional form of the upper longitudinal girders 2, 2' and lower longitudinal girders 4, 4' is shown in FIG. 5 and in more detail in FIGS. 7 and 8.

The cross-section of the upper longitudinal girder 2 (FIG. 7) has the general form of a recumbent F comprising a body 20, outer long bar 22 and small bar 24 extending perpendicularly from the body 20 in spaced parallel relation. The space between the two bars 22, 24 is equal to the space between the external and internal wall of the barge, that is to say the metal sheet 8 of the internal wall is welded at 26 to the end of the bar 24 while the sheet of the external wall is welded at 28 to the end of the bar 22 of the upper longitudinal girder.

The longitudinally arranged I-shaped section 7 is also equal in height to the space between the bars 22 and 24.

The part of the section, which forms the body of the recumbent F, serves as gangway on the side of the barge while the outer bar 22 of the F is extended upwards above the part 20 to form a wing 30. This wing 30 forms an edge to the gangway and serves above all as supporting and stacking zone of great length for the lower longitudinal girder of a second barge stacked on the first. More particularly, the supporting zone may be formed by the upper surface of a ledge 32 which extends outwards and/or inwards along the side of the wing 30 whereas the stacking zone may be formed by the end 34 of the wing 30. As will be seen from the following description, these zones 32 and 34 are adapted to cooperate with substantially complementary parts of the lower longitudinal girder.

Lastly, the part 20 of the section of the upper longitudinal girder preferably has an inner edge which extends upwardly and back into a returning edge 36 which prevents water entering the ship's hold and serves as support for hatchways 38 which may be mounted detachably on the upper longitudinal girder by any suitable means, as indicated at 40. These means for securing the hatchways may be sealed during the customs operations.

The lower longitudinal girder, one embodiment of which is shown in detail in FIG. 8, has a simple L- shaped section the angle of which constitutes the lower angle of the barge. The vertical arm 42 of the section is welded to the external sheet of the wall 10 while the horizontal arm 44 is welded to the external sheet 14 of the base.

The lower arm 44 has a double heel 46, 48 the undersurface of which forms the supporting surface for the barge when it rests on the ground or in the ship's hold. It can be seen therefore that the support extends substantially along the entire length of the barge.

The two heels 46, 48 between them form a groove 50 which is substantially complementary in form to the end 34 of the upper longitudinal girder. When several barges are stacked on top of one another, the heel 46 rests on the ledge 32 of the upper girder of the barge immediately below (and optionally the heel 48 rests on another ledge, not shown in FIG. 7), while the end 34 of the upper girder fits into the groove 50.

The support is therefore distributed over the entire length of the stacked barges and at the same time the barges are automatically perfectly aligned and inter locked, as shown in FIG. 4, in which the upper and lower longitudinal girders have been represented only schematically.

FIG. 8 also shows the l-shaped sections 6 and 6" forming one of the frames or cradles of the barge, the two portions of the sections being joined by a reinforcing element 52.

The sheets of the external and internal walls 10 and 8 and the sheets of the base l2, 14 are welded to the wings of the I-shaped sections 6 and 6".

For a barge which has the dimensions indicated above, the sections of the upper and lower longitudinal girders have a relatively large cross-sectional area (for example they may be inscribed in circles of 1000 mm and 600 mm in diameter, respectively).

In cases where it is difficult to obtain such drawn sec tions in one piece, the sections may advantageously be formed by assembling smaller sections 2, 3 or 4 by continuous welding on special machines.

Thus FIG. 7 shows a section forming an upper longitudinal girder by assembly of four smaller drawn sections welded together along three welding lines 54, 56 and 58. In this case, each section element is inscribed in a circle with a diameter of not more than 350 mm.

The same applies to the lower longitudinal girder shown in FIG. 8, which may consist of two smaller section elements joined along a welding line 60.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described and represented here, which is open to numerous variations available to the man of the art in accordance with the applications envisaged and without departing from the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. A barge which can be stacked on a barge-carrying ship, the framework of which comprises lower longitudinal girders and two upper longitudinal girders each consisting of a drawn section substantially of the same length as the barge, characterized in that the sections of each upper longitudinal girder and each lower longitudinal girder has hollow and projecting parts which substantially correspond to each other so that the lower longitudinal girders of the first barge can be supported and stacked along their entire length on the corresponding upper longitudinal girders of a second barge when the first barge is stacked on the second with the hollow parts of one interfitted with the projecting parts of the other, I sections which join each upper longitudinal girder to a lower longitudinal girder on the same side in relation to the interior of the barge, said I section constituting transverse frames of the barge and having external and internal wings, said frames being joined to each other by I-shaped drawn sections arranged longitudinally, characterized in that the shell of the barge is a double wall comprising an external wall and an internal wall which between them enclose a sealed buoyancy space, said walls consisting of metal sheets fixed to the external and internal wings of the I- sections and to the upper and lower longitudinal girders, each of the upper longitudinal girders has the general cross-sectional form of a recumbent letter F having a body portion and an outer bar which extends from the body portion of the F portion, the space between the two amts and of the F portion substantially cprresponding to the space between the two walls of the double wall, the part of the section formed by this body constituting a side gangway on the end of the barge, while the extension forms an edge for the gangway as well as a supporting and stacking zone for the lower longitudinal girder of a second barge stacked on the first.

2. A barge as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the lower longitudinal girder has an L section forming lower angles of the barge and having a lower arm, the lower arm having longitudinal supporting and stacking ribs and a groove formed therebetween for receiving an extension of the upper longitudinal girder of a second barge on which the barge in question is stacked.

3. A barge as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the upper longitudinal girder has an internal end in the part formed by the body of the F portion, a return projection at the internal end of the part formed by the body of the F portion, said return portion forming a support for hatchway panels of the barge.

4. A barge as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that it comprises only three types of drawn sections, namely one for the upper longitudinal girders, one for the lower longitudinal girders, and one for the ]-shaped sections. 

1. A barge which can be stacked on a barge-carrying ship, the framework of which comprises lower longitudinal girders and two upper longitudinal girders each consisting of a drawn section substantially of the same length as the barge, characterized in that the sections of each upper longitudinal girder and each lower longitudinal girder has hollow and projecting parts which substantially correspond to each other so that the lower longitudinal girders of the first barge can be supported and stacked along their entire length on the corresponding upper longitudinal girders of a second barge when the first barge is stacked on the second with the hollow parts of one interfitted with the projecting parts of the other, I sections which join each upper longitudinal girder to a lower longitudinal girder on the same side in relation to the interior of the barge, said I section constituting transverse frames of the barge and having external and internal wings, said frames being joined to each other by I-shaped drawn sections arranged longitudinally, characterized in that the shell of the barge is a double wall comprising an external wall and an internal wall which between them enclose a sealed buoyancy space, said walls consisting of metal sheets fixed to the external and internal wings of the Isections and to the upper and lower longitudinal girders, each of the upper longitudinal girders has the general cross-sectional form of a recumbent letter F having a body portion and an outer bar which extends from the body portion of the F portion, the space between the two arms and of the F portion substantially cprresponding to the space between the two walls of the double wall, the part of the section formed by this body constituting a side gangway on the end of the barge, while the extension forms an edge for the gangway as well as a supporting and stacking zone for the lower longitudinal girder of a second barge stacked on the first.
 2. A barge as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the lower longitudinal girder has an L section forming lower angles of the barge and having a lower arm, the lower arm having longitudinal supporting and stacking ribs and a groove formed therebetween for receiving an extension of the upper longitudinal girder of a second barge on which the barge in question is stacked.
 3. A barge as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that the upper longitudinal girder has an internal end in the part formed by the body of the F portion, a return projection at the internal end of the part formed by the body of the F portion, said return portion forming a support for hatchway panels of the barge.
 4. A barge as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that it comprises only three types of drawn sections, namely one for the upper longitudinal girders, one for the lower longitudinal girders, and one for the I-shaped sections. 